The Sun Still Shines Through The Storm
by Hermione-Potter-McTaggart
Summary: Tragedy strikes as Ren's car is hit and sent flying off a cliff. Ren and Tawny are seriously injured. Pairings:LT and RenO.C. Chapters fixed up, Please rate :D
1. AN

Hey Everyone,

Okay so yeah forst of all I want to say that this is the first time that I have ever posted any of my work on Fanfiction, so please exuse the messed up chapter section thingy. The original copy of the story is typed up on wordpad, so that explains the lack of neatness/organization throughout the story. This story's ideas was based on other fanfic ideas that I have read in not just the Even Stevens catagory but others, as well as my own ideas. Most of the characters are not mine but some are.I will add more whenever really, seeing as I only add more to my stories whenever I get the urge to. However I will say that this is one of my most updated fanfics.


	2. Chapter 2

Ren Stevens emerged through the front door of her high school, her eyes scanning the student parking lot for her brother, Louis and her prized possesion; her car. Ren caught sight of him, sitting on the hood of her car, his girlfriend, Tawny and best friend Twitty standing in front of him, laughing as he appeared to tell them some sort of joke. Ren rushed over to where her car was parked, her temper rising. She reached her car, biting her lip to prevent bursting out in front of the whole school at Louis. Louis looked up, laughing as Twitty sprayed silly string all over him. He saw Ren approach her car, and before she could even say a word he shouted out to her happily.

"Hey Ren, what's up?" Louis smiled, taking Ren's hand in his, giving her a sloppy handshake.

"Louis! Off the hood of my car, now!" Ren yelled, hauling Louis roughly off of the hood. She carefully inspected the paint, checking for any scratches or dents.

"Ah come on Ren, I was just sitting on it." Louis said as he ran his hand over the hood.

"Don't touch it!" Ren exclaimed, slapping his hand away.

"It costs an arm and a leg to get the paint re-done." she added.

"It's fine Ren, now keys." Louis replied, holding his hand out.

"Here, but remember, you do anything to inflict any sort of damage to this car and you will wish for the rest of your life that you never won that bet." Ren warned, roughly placing her car keys in his outstretched hand. Ren regretted it the moment she woke up that morning that she had made the bet with Louis. Louis had bet her the night before that if he was able to convince their mother to pick up take out on the way home, something she rarely did, and eat some, then she would have to allow him to drive her car home after school. Reluctantly she got into the back seat next to Tawny, who over the past two years, had surprisingly enough became one of her best friends. Ren kept her focus on the scenery passing by and not on Louis' bad driving. Why had she done something so stupid as to agree to this bet? Louis had just finally got his lisence two weeks ago and was hardly experienced enough in her opinion. To top it all off, he had decided to take the long way home, along the cliff that was next to the ocean. She always felt nervous going around the sharp bend, not because of the height but because of the large, sharpe, and jagged rocks at the bottom of that cliff. Her attention was drawn away from the window as she came to realize that Louis was driving way above the speed limit, and a very steep curve was just ahead.

"Hey Louis slow down a bit, the speed limit is only 50 and your pushing 120." Ren warned, a bad feeling washing over her.

"Oh come on Ren, can't you take the speed?" Louis asked with a laugh as he slightly increased his speed.

"Ren's right Louis, slow down." Tawny said seriously as she tightened her grip on the seat.

"No you too Tawny. This is nothing eh Twitty?" Louis asked with a wicked smile. The bend was getting closer and closer.

"Louis pull over, I'm driving the rest of the way home!" Ren exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat. They were approaching the bend at a deadly speed. Suddenly out from the other side of the bend came a large van. Ren's eyes grew wide as she realized that there was no way that Louis was going to be able to avoid colliding with it.

"Louis!!!!!" Ren and Tawny screamed as they felt the car get struck on their end by the van and sent flying off of the cliff. Ren felt sick as she saw images fly past her as she felt the car roll several times in the air before coming down on the rocks. The sound of crunching metal and screams was deafening as Ren felt the space were she had been sitting closing in. She opened her eyes but all she could she was twisted metal and sparks. She turned her head to her right, pain coursing through her whole body as she did so, but to her satisfaction saw Tawny who was still consious. Ren tried to look around some more but the pain in her neck was excruciating, however from the position she already had her neck in she could frightenly enough see her legs sticking out up near her face. This scared her more than anything else, she was never that flexible before.

"Tawny." She choaked out, the smoke from the car burning her throat and eyes. Tawny looked over to her and somehow managed to reach her hand over to her.

"Ren, are you okay?" she asked, blood dripping from her head. It took Ren several seconds to register what Tawny had just asked her, her head was buzzing and her whole body was throbbing. Her vision was blurring and she could feel the burning sensation of little shards of metal digging into her skin.

"Yeah, I'm alright....." Ren muttered, her mouth filling with blood. She felt like she was drunk, the words in her mind were mixed and made no sense. She closed her eyes and was enveloped into a world of darkness, but before she lost total consiousness, she could hear Tawny scream her name and the sound of sirens off in the distance.


	3. Chapter 3

Louis could hear Tawny and Ren scream his name as the van hit the back end of the car, sending them flying off of the cliff. It seemed like only a spilt second before he discovered that the car had just flew through the air and crashed onto the rocks. The sound of metal scrapping on the rocks and Ren and Tawny's screams echoed in his head. He opened his eyes to see himself and Twitty still in their seats. He quickly ripped off his seat belt and turned to face Twitty. There was blood on Twitty's face from a large cut on his forehead but he was still consious.

"Twitty come on dude we have to get out of here." Louis said, he pushed up against the smashed up door. The door swung open and Louis jumped out, Twitty right behind him. He had to be okay because nothing hurt and he could still walk fine. The only injuries that he had that he knew of was some cuts and bruises. He heard a man's voice shouting to him, looking up towards the edge of the cliff he saw a middle aged man and a woman who appeared to be his wife, standing on the cliff's edge yelling at him.

"Kid you alright?" the man asked. Louis took a quick glance behind him at the car and he felt his stomach flip. Ren, Tawny, they were still in the car, somewhere.

"I'm fine, same with my friend, but my sister and girlfriend are still stuck in the back!" Louis yelled back up to the man. He could see the man and his wife look down at the car to the back of the car which was totalled and saw their faces fall.

"Kid I'm calling an ambulance, so just hold on." The man replied, he saw the man take another look at the car before shaking his head and giving his cell phone to his wife. He quickly began scaling down the side of the cliff. It only seemed to take the man a minture or two to climb down the twenty foot cliff. The man sprinted across the rocky beach towards Louis at a remarkable pace for a man his age.

"Don't worry son, help's on the way." the man said, his hand on Louis' shoulder.

"But what about my sister and girlfriend, we have to get them out." Louis asked, running back towards the car. He could hear the sounds of sirens fast approching, the woman must have told them how bad the accident was.

"They are still in the back of the car?" The man asked, running up beside him.

"Yes, they are." Louis answered. The man grabbed him and hauled him and Twitty away as emergancy vehicles pulled up. Louis heard the sounds of the helicopter landing a few feet away, emergancy workers running out from inside, hauling stretchers and equipment bags with them. They rushed up to the three of them and dropped their equipment.

"Were you two in the accident?" One of the attendents asked, looking them up and down with her eyes.

"Yes, but don't worry about me, my sister and girlfriend are still stuck in the back!" Louis yelled furiously. Why were they so concerned about him and Twitty? It was Ren and Tawny they should be worried about.

"There are people in the back of that car?" The attendent asked with shock, looking at the wrecked vehicle.

"Yes, please dear God save them!" Louis begged, pushing the attendent over towards the car.

"I'll try." she replied. The attendent called out to the rest of the emergancy crew, calling them over as she began to inspect the damage. She shock her head is disbelief and took out her walkie talkie.

"We are going to need the jaws of life down here, there are two teenage girls stuck in the back seat and it doesn't look good." The attendent said sadly. Within several minutes, a large piece of machinery was brought down by a large firetruck. The firefighters looked grimly at the car, their eyes filled with sadness at the thought of people still being trapped in there. They set the machine up and prepared to cut open the car. Louis looked for the first time at the damage that had been done. The car was horribly mangled to no longer resemble a car. The only part of the car that still somewhat resembled a car was the front seats where he and Twitty had been sitting. The front of the car was crushed right up to the where the windshield had once been. All the windows had been shattered and the front doors fell off as the Jaws of Life kicked in. As for the back of the car, there was none. It was crushed beyond recognition and he could not see through the holes that had once been windows. A loud ripping noise filled the air as the Jaws of Life ripped the roof, if you could call it that now, off of the car. The firefighters used large metal cutters to cut away at some of the twisted metal, and before long Louis heard someone yell:

"We've got to them!" However the looks on the workers faces told him things weren't good. One of the workers waved more workers over to bring medical bags and stretchers. Louis watched as they carefully hauled the bloody, broken bodies of Ren and Tawny out of the wreakage. They were both unconsious, their faces covered in blood from the many deep gashes on thier faces. Blood covered them everywhere, the sight of it sickening. Some of the workers faces were tear stained as they cried at the sight. Louis fell to the ground and vomitted at the sight. Tears filled his eyes at what he had done, they couldn't be dead, he could never live with himself if they were. His thoughts were interupted by Twitty as he grabbed a hold of Louis, hauling him to his feet exclaiming: "Their alive!" Louis ran over to where the workers had placed both of them, and stood back a few feet as he watched one of the workers place a neck brace on Ren. Both of them had braces on their legs and the workers had started an IV on them.

"Kid we need you two to both go with us to the ambulance up on the road so we can check you over. Do you understand me?" A tall paramedic asked Louis, his eyes meeting his.

"What about my sister and my girlfriend?" Louis asked.

"They are going in the helicoptor, they will get there before you two. They are hurt very badly. Now I need you both to come with me so I can get personal information off of you so we can contact your family to alert them about what has happened." The paramedic said, slowly and simply to make Louis and Twitty understand. Louis and Twitty nodded in agreement and followed the paramedic carefully back up the cliff to a flashing ambulance. Louis took one look back as he watched the helicoptor rise up and fly off in the direction of the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of the door bell ringing loudly filled the Stevens house. Donnie answered it, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the police officer standing on the other side, his police cruiser parked in the driveway, the lights flashing.

"Are your parents home son?" the police officer asked seriously, tears in his eyes.

"Ummm yeah just a second, I'll get them." Donnie said, running into the kitchen. His parents were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when Donnie ran into the kitchen. His parents looked up at him, confused by the look on his face. Before they could ask him what was the matter, Donnie blurted out:

"Mom, Dad there is a cop at the door." Both of them jumped to their feet and followed behind Donnie as he ran back towards the front door. Their expressions changed to looks of great worry as they saw the look on the police mans face.

"Officer what is it?" Mrs. Stevens asked, clutching onto her husband. The officer removed his hat and looked down at his feet for several seconds, before he returned his eyes to them.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this, but...." the officer started, fighting back tears.

"Officer, please, tell us what's wrong." Mr. Stevens pleaded.

"You son Louis and your daughter Ren as well as their two friends Tawny and Twitty have been in a serious car crash. The back end of their car was struck by a van going around the bend on Ocean View road. Their car was thrown off of the road and down onto the rocks." The police man started. Donnie stood wide eyed in shock while his mother started sobbing into his fathers shoulder.

"Are they alright?" She cried, touching the officer's jacket sleeve. The police officer rubbed his eyes, wiping away a few tears that had got past his guard.

"Your son and his friend Twitty are pretty much okay, a few cuts and bruises and maybe a concussion but as for your daughter and her friend Tawny... Ma'am, twelve years on the force and I have never seen such a horrible accident. If the two of them live, it'll be a miracle. I was there when they used the Jaws of Life to cut open the end of the car, it didn't even look like a car anymore. There was just so much blood, it was horrible." The police officer saw, his voice cracking. Mr and Mrs. Stevens and Donnie sobbed with despair at the news, each privately hoping for the best.

"Here let me escort you to the hospital, that way you can get there faster with no delays." The officer said. He led the three of them out to the driveway. He got into his car and waited for the three of them to load into their van. Turning on the sirens he pulled out of the driveway and led the Stevens van the whole way to the hospital.


	5. Chapter 5

Louis turned as he heard the sliding doors of the hospital entrance open, and saw his teary eyed family run through. His heart broke at the sight of his mother in particular, whose angst at the moment was devestating. What would they think when they found out he was the cause of the accident, that because he didn't listen to Ren or Tawny he could have killed the both of them. Please dear God let them live, he wouldn't be able to live with the fact that he killed them because he thought he was cool speeding. He would give his life just for the two of them to live. He hopped down off of the stretcher they had him sitting on, and made his way over to his parents and Donnie who were at the information desk.

"Louis!" His mother cried out, running over to him and enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Mom, I'm so sorry." Louis cried, burying his face in her jacket.

"Sorry for what?" His mother asked, rubbing his back.

"It's my fault mom, Ren and Tawny told me to slow down but I never. I'm so sorry." Louis replied tearfully.

"What?" His mother questioned, but before anyone could say anything more, a doctor came over to them, clipboard in hand.

"Is this the Stevens family?" he asked.

"Yes, we are. Our daughter and Tawny, how are they?" Mr Stevens asked eagerly.

"Is Tawny's family here with you?" The doctor asked.

"No they are away on business in Europe, she's staying with us for the time being." Mr. Stevens answered anxiously.

"Alright then, why don't we have a seat then." the doctor said, directing them over to a unoccupied section of the sitting area.

"First off let me say that both girls are very lucky to be alive right now. From what the paramedics and firefighters said, the accident was horrific and they at first didn't think that anyone who had been sitting in the back seat like Tawny and Ren where could have survived, they figured they would be dead when they finally managed to open the back end of the car. The police told me that the cause of the accident was speeding and that the driver, your son was going quite the speed when they hit the man driving the van." The doctor started, no one said anything, they just looked over at Louis who lowered his head.

"Now one of my colleages checked out your son and Mr Twitty here, they are fine however, I ask that they stay over night for observation due to the fact that they do have rather severe concussions. As for your daughter and her friend Tawny, that's a different story. Let me start off with Tawny, she suffered several severely broken bones in her left leg as well as a shattered knee cap and other severe breaks in her right leg. There was some internal bleeding, mainly around her liver and kidney's but we were able to stop that during surgery as well as repair her knee cap and breaks. She has five broken ribs that will need to mend themselves. She has many, many severe cuts and bruises, most which had to be stiched. One of the most severe, is on her forehead. We figure that she gained that on first impact and it has knocked her into a coma." The doctor explained solomly. Mrs. Stevens started crying even more, Donnie hugged her comfortingly while fighting back his own tears. Twitty and Louis hung their heads, and Louis muttered something to himself that no one could hear.

"What about Ren doctor?" Mr. Stevens asked fearfully. The doctor took a deep breath and looked at them all sympathetically.

"Ren suffered more severe injuries. She also recieved many severe cuts like Tawny, the result being first impact and from the metal of the car as it twisted and ripped open. She is also in a coma, and like Tawny we don't know when she'll come out of it. There were several broken ribs and two fractures, a sprained wrist and severe internal bleeding. All of her injuries will heal basically on their own, we stopped the internal bleeding in surgery, however, unfortunatly ..." The doctor answered, his voice breaking before he could break the horrible news.

"What doctor? What is it?" Mrs. Stevens cried, clutching her husband's arm tightly.

"Ma'am I don't know how to say this, so I'll come right out and say it. A large piece of the car came through the back seat of the car, where Ren was sitting, and it was pushed into Ren's back during the collision on the rocks. The metal, cut into her nerves, and totally destroyed several of them, the ones that control her ability to walk. Mr and Mrs Stevens I'm sorry to tell you this, but your Daughter is paralyzed from the legs down for life, there is nothing we can do surgery wise to help her." The doctor said. Mrs. Stevens erupted into deep sobs burying her face into Mr. Stevens shirt. Donnie got to his feet and went over to the corner and stood and looked out the window, tears rolling down his face. Louis just sat next to Twitty, both of them silent in shock. The doctor stood up slowly and walked over to the nurse's station and told her to direct all out patients to the other waiting room so that the Stevens could be alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Louis held his breath as he entered the hospital room. It had been about two hours since the doctor had broke the news, two hours of pure hell in his mind. Despite no one saying anything to him about it being his fault, he knew different. He had prayed that they wouldn't die yet now both of them were probably going to have to spend months in the hospital doing rehab and now Ren was paralyzed. He ruined his sisters life, she was on the track and field team, had a huge chance in making team MVP this season and now he ruined it all for her. Her boyfriend Tommy would probably blame him as well as everyone else, it was all his fault. The sound of dual beeps coming from the medical equipment rang in his ears as he looked around the room. It was a semi private room, and Ren and Tawny's bed had been pushed closely together, probably by the nurses so when they came out of their coma's they would see each other. He could make out the shape of the casts on Tawny's legs underneath the blankets of her bed. He could see some of the stiched up cuts on the face, neck and arms from where he stood, even the bruises looked horrible. They had a breathing tube on her as well an IV and several other cords.

Looking over at Ren who was on Tawny's right, his heart dropped. Her face had three cuts on it, the largest one being right above her right eye, the stiches standing out more than anything. Her face also had some severe bruises as well as her neck. Louis was glad they had taken the neck brace off, the one that he remembered them putting on when they loaded her into the helicoptor. She had a breathing tube, IV and many other cords as well. He could see the lumps under the blanket where her legs were laying lifelessly. He hoped she wouldn't hate him when she woke up, he wouldn't be able to stand it if she or Tawny did. Both Ren and Tawny looked like goddesses laying on their beds, the only reminders that they were still mortal was their visible injuries.

Mr and Mrs Stevens walked over between the two beds and held both of the girls hands. Mrs. Stevens gently and carefully brushed a stand of hair away from Ren's face, some of her tears dropping down onto Ren's face.

"Hi honey, we're here beside you." she spoke quietly, rubbing her hand.

"We're right beside you too Tawny." she spoke, sitting down on the chair Mr. Stevens put behind her. Louis sat down by the door and watched silently, he would go closer when his parents left.

His parents had left again for the night. It had been two weeks since the accident and tonight was the first night he had gathered the courage to go closer to Ren and Tawny's beds. Twitty had gone home for the night as well, he couldn't take spending another night in the hospital. His parents had tried to get a hold of Tawny's parents, but it was no use. They were over in the Amazon somewhere doing research for the University that they worked at, and had only left a month or so ago and wouldn't be home for another two years. This was the downside that Tawny always talked about when people asked about what her parents did for a job. Every three years they would leave for two years to the different rainforests in the world to do extensive research. There was no way to contact them at all and they never came home till the two years was up. Now that she and Louis were going out, she spent the two years at the Stevens house since her parents had to pretty much lock up the house for the entire time so their insurence would stay active. It was far better than her having to have to spend that time at another local family members house.

He walked slowly over between the two beds where Ren and Tawny still layed unconsious. The doctors still did not know how long they would be in their coma's but as each day passed that they did not wake, he felt even worse than before. His mother had called Ren's boyfriend the day after the accident but his mother had been the one to answer. She had told Mrs. Stevens that he was away for a hockey tournament and wouldn't be home till this week sometime. Mrs. Stevens had told his mother what had happened and they both agreed that they had best wait till he got home to tell him as to not ruin his concentration while away at the hockey tournament. That day Tommy, her boyfriend, had come rushing into the hospital. He had just got home that morning when his mother had told him, and he had raced over to the hospital. Louis still remembered Tommy's expression as he saw Ren. He had almost collapsed to the floor only to be caught by Donnie who hauled him over to a chair beside Ren's bedside.

Tommy held her hand and kissed her cheek lightly. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at both Tawny and Ren. The closest they had come to thinking Ren might wake up soon came after as Tommy held her hand. She had stirred slightly and whispered Tommy's name so low it was barely audible.

"Yes I'm here Ren. Don't worry about anything, I'll be right here when you wake up." He whispered in reply. He had said nothing more but just sat and held her hand the entire remainder of the day. He only moved after Mr. and Mrs Stevens finally had managed to persuade him to come with them to get something to eat and to go home to get some sleep.

Louis stood, rather than sitting, next to Tawny. He took her hand in his and kissed her lips gently.

"Hey beautiful." he whispered, guilt washing over him once again. The stiches were still in, the doctors had said to them that it might be another week or two due to the matter of how deep the cuts were. The dual beeps of the the medical equipment had become just background noise to him now after all this time in the hospital. He barely left the room to eat, sleep, or do much of anything else. He only went home every second or third night and that was after much nagging from his parents. His parents had told him that they weren't angry with him, but just dissapointed. Ren had trusted him enough to let him drive that afternoon and he had just wanted to show off and that had got Ren and Tawny hurt badly. His parents had told him his punishment served him right when a cop had come by the hospital a few days after the accident and told him his lisence would be from then on for the next ten years, void. The cop had told him that the judge that had come to the decision to make his lisence void, had been easy on him, saying that he didn't need any more of a punishment, because he said that he would from then on be reminded daily of his actions.

Turning, Louis took Ren's hand in his. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked at her. Ren's spirit was huge, she would get through this all, but as for himself, no matter how many times Ren smiled he would still see what he had done to her. He had remembered hearing in school that people in coma's could still hear people talking to them, that was probably why his parents and Tommy had been talking to them the entire time. He had just thought it was to get the load off their minds, but maybe there was something to all that scientific research.

"Hey, Ren." he started. What could he say to her? Surely he had to say something more to her at least. Ren had always been there for him, despite how annoying he was and now he was going to be there for her.

"I know I haven't really been around much, but I've been sitting far back for the last two weeks just watching everything take place. But I'm here now." he continued. He had to say more to her than he said to Tawny. He ruined her life, he could at least have a one sided conversation with her.

"I just want to let you know that I am so sorry Ren. I never meant to hurt you like this, I've ruined your life. There isn't really any way I can make it up to you, but I promise that I will spend the rest of my life trying to." He slightly tightened his grip on her hand as he thought of more to say. He didn't care if he looked stupid talking to someone in a coma, it didn't matter anymore.

"Please don't hate me Ren, I should have listened to you and Tawny and slowed down, if I had of all of us would be home doing homework. Mom and Dad called the school and the principal told the school what happened. The doctors and nurses said for no one from school to come visit until you guys wake up, although they let Tommy in, he sat by your side all day today. You said his name, that made everyone quite happy." Louis said, wiping tears from his eyes. He could hear the sound of a nurse coming down the hallway and looked at his watch; it was almost midnight. The nurse looked in the door to their room and met Louis' eyes. She gave him a knowing nod and went on to the next room.

"Hey you two I got to go for now, the nurse is going to come in soon to check on you so I'll see you guys tomorrow." Louis said giving them both a kiss on the forehead before turning and leaving the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Ren could hear the hushed voices of her family and what sounded like the beeping of some sort of equipment near her. The scent of sanitizer and flowers was present as she took a deep breath. She could feel someone's hand in her's and by the feel of the soft flesh she knew it was her mother's. Her mother was talking to someone, but the other person didn't seem to be replying. She laid completely still gaining the strength to open her eyes, and continued to listen to her mother's one sided conversation. She was talking to Tawny. Tawny, why would Tawny be not talking back to her mother? Memories came rushing back to her of her and Tawny sitting in the back seat of the car and Louis driving along the cliff overlooking the ocean. She remembered both of them telling Louis to stop then all she could remember was total darkness. Tawny had to be alright, but then again why wouldn't she be, what happened?

"Mom?" Ren asked coarsely, her throat felt so dry and her voice cracked as she talked. She eased open her eyes and could make out her mothers image as well as the rest of her family just barely over the bright light in the room.

"Ren?" Her mother asked with surprise, looking down at her.

"Ren oh my God your awake!" she exclaimed, tears building up in her eyes. The rest of her family crowded around her bed, she could just barely see them all, that damn light, someone should dim it.

"Where am I?" She asked quietly. Man, she could use some water.

"Honey your in the hospital. You had an accident." Her mother answered, tightening her grip on her hand. A hospital? Well that would explain the smells and that stupid light. But where's Tawny and what kind of an accident?

"What happened. Where's Tawny?" Ren asked weakly. She felt so tierd and all the color she could see was black and white, better than barely being able to see anything.

"Tawny's in the bed next to you." Her Father answered quietly. In the bed next to her? Well that explained why her mother was talking to her, but why wasn't Tawny answering? She must still be out for the count.

"What happened?" she asked again.

"You were in a very bad car accident. The car went off of the cliff and crashed down on the rocks." Her mother answered solomnly. Car accident? The only car she was last in was her car and Louis was driving. She didn't even want to know how bad her car looked right then.

"What time is it?" she asked, looking around for a clock somewhere. Her sight was returning to normal, she could make out the blue on her Dad's shirt.

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon. You've been in a coma for the last three weeks." Her mother answered. Three weeks? How badly was she hurt that she was knocked into a coma for that long. Tawny must still be in a coma then.

"How badly am I hurt?" she asked finally. She could tell by the expressions on her family's faces that it wasn't good. Donnie and Louis left the room, fighting back tears, and beside her father stood a guy she faintly remembered.

"You have some bad cuts and bruises. You had some internal bleeding, but the doctors fixed that in surgery when you were first brought in as well as some broken and fractured ribs." Her mother answered. Well that certainly explained the pain she was in, even though she knew that she probably had enough pain killers being pumped into her to take out a ovesized moose. She could feel the IV needle in her wrist and the oxygen tube under her nose which was probably there because of the broken ribs. She could tell her family wasn't telling her everything about her injuries because she knew that there was no way she could be in this much pain with so minor of injuries and they themselves couldn't be the entire result of a crash that put her into a coma for three weeks. She shifted slightly in bed only to notice something didn't feel right; why couldn't she feel her legs?

"Mom why can't I feel my legs?" she asked. She could feel her mother's grip lighten some and tears roll down her cheeks.

"Honey in the crash a big, sharp piece of the car came through your seat and destroyed all the nerves in your back that control your ability to walk. You're paralyzed from the legs down." her mother said tearfully. No. That couldn't be true, there had to be a way to fix it. She was on the track and field team, and so close to being made MVP and earning a gold medal for her team.

"They can fix it right?" she asked hopefully.

"No honey they can't. They tried but there's nothing they can do." her mother answered. Ren closed her eyes and felt tears coming, burning her eyelids wanting to be let out. She fought them back, she had to be strong. She could tell that her parents had been in a living hell for the past three weeks and crying would only break their hearts even more. It must have been too hard for Donnie and Louis to see her like that when she was told the news, especially on Louis who she knew must feel the worst. He must be taking on all the blame right now, since he was the driver. She couldn't let him feel like that any longer. She was hurt and she would get over it. But what about track? She loved track, it was the only sport she really got into in school and now that was all over. She could feel the tears breaking free of their barrier and sliding down across her cheeks. She just layed there and cried, she didn't care anymore about how it affected her parents, she was the one who had lost it all because of some stupid accident.

After about several minutes of crying, she used her free hand and carefully wiped the tears away from her eyes and face. She could feel the bumps from what must be stiches on her face and arm and her face stinged a bit as the salty tears hit her cuts. Opening her eyes she saw her parents looking at each other then back to her, their eyes full of sympathy as they watched her, waiting for her to say something. Then there was that same guy still standing nest to her father, his eyes damp from tears. Who was this guy, she felt a strong pull to him, so he must be someone she was close to, but why couldn't she place a name to his face? All she could manage to pull from her mind was that she loved him and it was obvious that he loved her because he was still there.

"I know I'll sound stupid for asking this, but do we know each other?" she asked, pointing to the guy. Her father made room for him to come up beside her, and she felt him take her hand carefully as to not hit the IV.

"It's me Tommy, your boyfriend." he answered lovingly. His eyes met her parents and they knew what is was he was asking them with his questioning eyes.

"The doctor said she might have side affects from the accident where she hit her head so badly. Her vison being blurred or colorless, not being able to remember some thing or place names to people, don't worry it's only short term." Her father answered reasureingly. Suddenly Ren could vaguely remember hearing his voice in her mind while she had been in the coma. He had talked to her and held her hand, and she had muttered his name in her sleep. Memories of the two of them going out for dinner or to the movies came flooding back to her. All the football games of his that she went to and all of her track meets that he came to cheer her on at. Three years worth of memories unburied themselves in her mind and his face became familier again. How could she forget his sweet, caring face?

"I remember." she said quietly. Tommy looked down at her tearfully as he held back another crying fit. He sat down on the edge of the bed and carefully wrapped his arm around her. Ren smiled weakly, closing her eyes. She was so tired that she couldn't keep her eyes open. It must be all the pain medication, that or she was just too weak from laying in bed for three weeks.

"Hold me closely Tommy." she asked. She tried to move her head closer to him but found it just to difficult too move it. She could hear Tommy whisper soothing words in her ear as sleep came over her again.

Ren woke once again to the sounds of the same beeping noises and the smells of her hospital room, reminding her that what had happened actually happened to her. She couldn't hear her family moving around or talking, which meant they probably went home for the night. She was glad, because just looking at her families grim faces made her feel worse. She could remember reading in magazines about people being severely injured in accidents and realizing too late that had they approached their situation with a more optimistic attitude, then they would have healed more quickly. Think optimisitcally, she could do that, her track couch always told the team to do that before every meet because if they dwelled on the negative thoughts then they wouldn't be able to perform to the best of their abilities. She opened her eyes and looked around; yep, the room was empty. She could still smell flowers and turned to look to her left and there on the little white nightstand next to her bed she could see about three different sets of flowers. There was a nice vase of roses there and on the card it told her they were from Tommy. She coud hear a noise next to her on her right, and turning her head, she saw for the first time, the last person she saw before the accident.

"Tawny?" she asked. The person in the bed turned and looked at her, it was Tawny.

"Your awake." Tawny said with a weak smile. Ren smiled at Tawny, glad that she was awake now too. The nurses must have pushed Tawny's bed closer to hers when they first were put in there, realizing that they would be the only ones able to help each other through the long road ahead.

"I should say the same to you." Ren laughed. Her ribs ached as she did and there was a throbbing pain in her back.

"Yeah well I just woke up about two hours ago." Tawny answered.

"What time is it?" she asked. There still wasn't a damn clock in this room. Maybe the nurses have one laying around somewhere.

"Ten after seven." Tawny answered. "Or well that's what the nurse said just a few minutes ago when she was in here."

"I've been out for seven hours then." she thought outloud.

"Yeah your parents said you woke up about one this afternoon." Tawny commented, shifting akwardly in her bed.

"When did they leave?" she asked. It couldn't of been that long ago, but then again her family all looked dead on their feet so going home to get some sleep would be good for them.

"About an hour ago, your mom said she wanted to go and make some calls to say that we were both awake." Tawny answered, she lowered her head some, and looked like she was debating about saying something or not.

" Your parents told me what happened to us. I don't remember any parts of the accident, just the part of us telling Louis to slow down and seeing that van coming around the bend. Next thing I know I'm waking up in here." Tawny started. Ren felt relived that it wasn't just her that remembered nothing of the accident, although she was sure that was deffinatly a good thing. She knew however, that Tawny wasn't done saying what was on her mind, she knew what was coming next.

"Your parents told me about you not being able to walk again. Ren I'm so sorry, I feel so guilty because I was right next to you in the car and one day I'll be able to walk out of here..." Tawny started but she was cut off as Ren held up a hand to silence her.

"Tawny please don't give me your sympathy, I'm getting enough of it from everyone else. Please just do me a favor and just accept it like I have. It's happened and we both know that no amount of sympathy is going to make me walk again." Ren said truthfully. This sympathy stuff was making her sick, but then again they weren't the ones laying in a hopsital bed so all they could really do was feel sorry for her.

"You're right Ren, I'm sorry for doing that, besides we're both going to be wheelchair buddies for a while. I don't think you've seen the casts they got on my legs. Said it might take months before I'll have the strength back in my legs to walk again and that's with rehab." Tawny replied with a smile.

"I guess we aren't the ones who are worse off. I hate to think what my car looks like now." Ren laughed quietly.

"The funny part is, only about twenty minutes before the accident, you were giving Louis a going over about sitting on the hood of the car. You were worried he had scratched it, yet now I think if it's even recognizable as a car you'd be lucky." Tawny joked, pressing the button on the bed control to put it into a sitting position. Ren copied her, it felt good to sit up again.

"Tell me about it. Hopefully insurance will cover it, although I daresay it's going to be a pain to pay every year from now on." Ren laughed, wincing in pain, which didn't go unnoticed by Tawny.

"You okay Ren?" she asked, watching her carefully.

"Yeah, I just think the pain medication is wearing off." Ren answered, taking a deep pain filled breath. Tawny coughed and Ren could see her wince in pain as well.

"Looks like I'm not the one who should worry about the other's pain." Ren commented sarcastically.

"Ah shut up, your just lucky you can't feel the pain in your legs like I can." Tawny replied. Ren's eyes grew wide in shock, now that's what she called not showing sympathy.

"There's what I meant when I said no sympathy. Joke about your situation and it becomes funny. You'll probably be the only one who will joke like that with me." Ren said with a huge grin.

"Yeah well I meant it. Between the two of us, they're using enough pain medication to knock out a whole country."

"True, but then again without it, I think we'd be damn near insane. They could take away my pain medication and I'd still be happy." Ren stated thoughtfully.

"Why's that?" Tawny asked curiously.

"My paralysis is only in the legs. I'm lucky because I can still fully control my bladder." Ren said. She knew that for a fact without the doctors telling her, because she could easily tell where the feeling left her.

"Damn lucky." Tawny muttered with a smile.

"Can I tell you something Tawny?" Ren asked, looking back over at her.

"Yeah of course, anything." Tawny answered.

"What do you think of me getting a black car next time?" Ren asked, smiling madly. Tawny laid in thought for a minute or so before answering.

"So you plan on getting back on the road then?" Tawny questioned lightly.

"Yeah, you can get a car installed to have the controls up top. It's just like driving one of those go karts at the fair." Ren answered seriously.

"Then in that case, black is deffinatly a good color to go with this time." Tawny said with a yawn.

"Go to sleep Tawny, it's no use trying to fight it off. The medication wins everytime." Ren said quietly. Tawny just nodded and lowered her bed. She had no sooner had the bed back to it's normal position when she was out cold once again. Ren smiled watching her for several more seconds before turning her head back to the flowers on her left. They were very pretty and brought color to the plain room, which reminded her that she could see color once again. She shifted slightly in her bed finding it somewhat akward not to be able to feel her legs. She could see them and no matter how hard she tried to command them to move they wouldn't budge. "I suppose this could come in handy should Donnie talk me into playing football with him some day." she though optimistically, poking her numb leg. Hearing a noise in the doorway she looked up to see a nurse walk gracefully in.

"Oh your awake again I see. That's good, I'm Lucy, the head nurse. I've been the one who's been looking after you and your friend Tawny." the nurse said with a cheerful smile.

"Oh well thank you I guess. At least your the only person who's still smiling everytime you look at me." Ren said, giving the nurse a smile in return.

"You had an accident, your not dying so I see no reason for this to be a morbid atmosphere." Nurse Lucy replied cooly.

"Maybe you could tell my family that." Ren replied with a smirk.

"Well at least your taking your situation well. When some of your other injuries heal we can get you out of bed and into a wheelchair. I daresay you're itching to get out of that bed." Nurse Lucy said as she checked the IV in Ren's wrist.

"I'm the only one who can. The way I figure it what's done is done, no amount of sympathy is going to make me walk again. I've accepted what has happened to me and that's all I can do." Ren replied.

"That a girl, way to think optimistically. Now would you like something to eat?" Nurse Lucy asked with a warm smile.

"Yes please, that would be great." Ren answered. She just realized that for the past three weeks they had probably been pumping her full of liquid food and anything solid would be wonderful.

"Alright then sweetie, I'll go see what I can sneak you in from the kitchen." Nurse Lucy said as she marked something on her clipboard and walked back out the door. Ren layed back in her bed and watched the people passing by the door. There was an eerie quietness about it all that made it seem sort of peaceful yet kind of boring. Maybe her parents could bring in her television or something. There was a light knock on the door which caught her attention. Looking back over at the door she smiled widely as she saw Donnie standing in the doorway.

"Donnie." She said, her voice cracking again. Damnit she needed something to drink.

"Hey sis." he said quietly, slowly making his way over to her bed. He played with the side of the blanket as he stood in silence. Ren could tell he was happy that she was awake again, but she could also sense his fear of hurting her.

"You know you can hug me." Ren said with a pleasent smile.

"I know but I'm scared I'll hurt you." Donnie replied truthfully.

"You won't. Here help me up." Ren said. Donnie helped her sit up straight in the bed and she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug. He wrapped his arms carefully around her, not wanting to touch her back in fear of hurting her. She layed back against the bed and took Donnie's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"You look like shit Donnie." she said seriously.

"I haven't been sleeping good for the past few weeks. Coach said if I don't get some sleep then I'm out for the next game." Donnie replied, taking a seat next to her bed.

"Donnie listen to me, I want you to leave now and go home and get some sleep. I don't want you to be taken out of the game on account of me." Ren said, squeezing his hand.

"Ren, I know I may seem like a stupid jock, but I can't just go off and play some dumb game. You're my sister and you're hurt. I'm going to help take care of you." Donnie answered. Ren sighed, oh for the love of God.

"Donnie I'm paralyzed not dying. I can still do what I normally do, or well all except for walk, but I don't need your sympathy. I'm going to heal and get home as soon as I can alright. Now go home, sleep and I expect to hear you've gone to that damn game." Ren exclaimed loudly. She winced in pain, it felt like her back was on fire. Donnie jumped to his feet and hunched over Ren, his face creased with worry.

"Ren, Ren are you okay?" he asked, grabbing her hand somewhat roughly, the same one that had the sprained wrist. She winced again in pain because of that, hauling her hand away from Donnie.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, it's just the pain that's all. Don't worry about me it's gone now, it comes and goes, or if I laugh or cough too hard." Ren said. This pain was taking the good out of her. She lowered her bed slightly and closed her eyes for several seconds.

"Go home, Donnie that's all I'm going to say." she said, opening her eyes again.

"Night Ren." Donnie said, giving her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. He was no sooner out the door when Ren saw a face she was least expecting to see for a few days.

"Louis." she said quietly, giving him a weak welcoming smile.

"Hey Ren." he replied, figiting with something in his hands that she couldn't make out from the bed.

"You know you can come in. I can barely see you." she said, squinting to try to make out what he had in his hand. Louis cautiously made his way over to her bedside and presented her with a big, fluffy and soft looking teddy bear.

"Here, I got you this down in the giftshop." He said quietly, helping her take it in her hand. She felt it's soft fur and smiled broadly. Louis smiled a tiny bit at her reaction, which Ren knew was the first time he did in a while.

"Thanks Louis, it's cute, I love it." she said, placing it down beside her.

"I thought you might like it. So ummmm...how are you feeling?" he asked nervously. "He thinks I hate him." Ren thought with amazement.

"I'm feeling okay. The morphine's my favorite thing in the world right now but I'm good." she answered. Guilt flashed in Louis' eyes and Ren noticed him quickly glance down at where her legs were before quickly returning his gaze to the floor.

"Louis it was an accident. You didn't mean for it to happen, it just did." she said, taking his hand in hers.

"You both told me to slow down and I didn't listen. It's all my fault, if I had of listened to you guys we would all be home together and you'd be getting ready for your track meet. Now, because of me you can't walk anymore." Louis said, his eyes filling with tears.

"Louis you made a mistake. Yes, the consequenses of it are severe, but I forgive you. I don't want you to go on and always feel sorrow for my loss everytime you see me." she replied, wiping a few of his tears away.

"Ren, why have you forgiven me? What I did is horrible and permanent." Louis cried, wiping his eyes somewhat dry with his shirt sleeve.

"Louis you're my little brother. You remember all those times you screwed up over the years and I still have forgiven you. Like when you sold tickets to a live showing of my sleep over that time, sure we captured you and gave you a makeover, but I forgave you. I love you too much to not forgive you. Besides look at it this way, you did me a favor. Now I don't need to find ways to avoid Smither's gym class. I automatically get out off it since all he ever makes us do is fitness tests." she joked with a quiet laugh.

"Your joking about this already? You just woke up today, and you've accepted your injury?" Louis questioned with shock.

"Louis, those people who dwell on the negative side of something happening in their lives, take longer to heal. I want to heal and get out of here as soon as I can." She answered truthfully.

"I see I........" Louis started, but was interupted by a knock on the door. It was Nurse Lucy.

"Your parents called honey and said to get home now, your Grandmother is on her way and they want you home to clean your room." she said sternly as she walked over towards the bed.

"And no buts about it. Your sister needs rest, goodness knows she doesn't get much of it when you're all here visisting her. Can't expect her to wheel out of here anytime soon if she doesn't rest up." Nurse Lucy continued, cutting Louis off before he could protest.

"Goodnight Louis. Promise me that you'll get some sleep tonight." Ren said, giving Louis a hug goodbye.

"I will Ren. See you." Louise said meekly as he turned and walked out of the room almost silently. Ren sighed and rubbed the teddy bear's soft head. Nurse Lucy came over beside her bed and adjusted her pillows for her. Checking her IV bag and some of the other cords and things she talked quietly to herself as she checked things off on her little clipboard. Turning around she placed her clipboard on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of Ren's bed. She placed her hand carefully on her forehead, checking it for any signs of a temperature.

"How do you feel honey?" Nurse Lucy asked quietly, adjusting the blankets on the bed.

"Tired and weak mostly." Ren answered. She left out her feelings of frustration at being so weak and tired all the time. She barely had the strength to lift her head anymore.

"Yes well that's to be expected. Your morphine dosage has been upped since your awake now. The doctors have also gave you more medications that are going to leave you feeling weak for while yet." Nurse Lucy answered. Ren closed her eyes. Well that sure explained a lot. She could feel sleep coming upon her once again and didn't bother to fight it.


	8. Chapter 8

The sounds of people talking in the room filled her ears as Ren woke up. She had had a dreamless sleep, which she was glad for because she was certain that dreaming would tire her out even more. Opening her eyes with only a bit of effort she looked around at the people in the room. She could see her parents and her Grandmother who was sitting in a chair near her bed and standing up by the door was Tommy. "They haven't noticed I'm awake again." Ren thought. Closing her eyes to save herself some energy she took a small breath. She felt bad because she was only going to be able to get one name out for this little bit before having to rest. Hopefully they would understand.

"Tommy." she said weakly. That did it, her strength was gone. She could hear her parents and Tommy come up beside her bed. She could feel her father take her hand. Couldn't he hear her? She said Tommy. She needed to feel Tommy's warm, soft hand, not her father's. Fighting for the last lingering bit of strength she had she took another small breath.

"No. Tommy." she said. Feeling her Father's hand reluctantly leave her's she smiled inside. They finally got it. She was certain however, that her correcting them left her so tierd that she probably wouldn't have the strength to open her eyes for a while now. Ren could feel Tommy's hand slide into hers and she could smell his cologne; the same one she had bought him for his birthday. He squeezed her hand slightly but she could not find the strength to return the gesture. Feeling her bed go down slightly, she knew Tommy was sitting beside her. He was close to her that was all that mattered.

"I'm here Ren." he said, running his hand gently and affectionally down the side of her face. She let her head roll towards his hand, his hand cupping the side of her face.

"Remember Tommy what the doctors said. She is awake but most likely has no strength to open her eyes or talk. You most likely know what she's thinking anyway, so just talk to her." Mrs. Stevens said quietly. Most likely hasn't the strength to open her eyes or talk? How about totally has no strength to do anything much less those two things. Tommy left his hand under her face, which she was thankful for. It was a comfort to her, helping make her current situation less of an annoyance.

"I know you probably wondering why I'm not in school Ren. Well I am getting all my school work sent home to me so I can be here with you. The couch is letting have time off to, or well more like forcing me to. He told me that I shouldn't be playing football but staying here by your side." Tommy said. Wow, he knocked that one right on the mark. Little bugger was sweet enough to want to spend all his time in here with her. "Now that's love." she thought.

She could feel sleep creeping upon her again, or well judging on the fact that she was being pumped with the strongest pain medication of all, she could feel herself losing the battle once again. Hopefully when she woke again she would have enough strength to open her eyes. It would probably be days before she had the strength she originally woke up with back again, but it would be worth the wait. Her thoughts started to become jumbled as the sleep inched closer upon her. Tommy would be gone to school most likely when she woke again, but, no wait, he was off for the while. How could she forget that? Sleep swallowed her up once more.


	9. Chapter 9

The sounds of the hospital room welcomed her as she woke up. They were familier sounds to her now, and the renown smell of the hospital was no longer recognizable to her anymore. She had become use all it's scents and sounds, however the looks of it all was still slightly new to her. She didn't even need to open her eyes to know that Tommy was there still beside her, holding her hand gently. Opening her eyes she saw his sweet and caring face, tanned and beautiful to all who looked upon it. She laughed to herself as realized that he was sleeping. She would let him sleep, knowing he was probably going on only a few hours of it. Turning her head with a little effort she saw a welcoming sight. Tawny, propped up in her bed, reading a book. She looked better than she first had when they first woke up.

"We should get a t.v. in here." Ren said quietly, not wanting to wear herself out or wake Tommy.

"Ren you're awake." Tawny said happily, setting her book aside.

"You seem awfully happy to see me awake, how long have I been out?" Ren asked curiously. Surely it hadn't been weeks like when she was in the coma.

"Three days. Same with me but I woke up this morning. The doctors are saying that you're having more of a reaction to the morphine than me." Tawny answered. Well that would explain why Tawny had the strength to hold her book up.

"Where is everyone?" She asked. They couldn't be home. They pretty much lived at the hospital.

"They should be back any mintue. They went down to the cafeteria like more than an hour ago." Tawny answered. Ren felt Tommy's hand twitch in hers and she could hear him take a deep breath as he woke. Turning her head weakly towards Tommy she could see him open his eyes.

"Hey you." she said with a smile. Surprise filled his eyes as he looked down at her.

"Ren, your awake again. How do you feel?" he asked, wiping a hair out of her face.

"The same really. I think I'd rather deal with the pain than being so weak from the pain medications." she answered truthfully. She wanted to get out of this bed and start learning how to get around in a wheelchair.

"Well they plan on getting you in a wheelchair starting next week, if you have some of your strength back." Tommy said.

"Really? That'll be great. I want to get back onto the road to recovery as soon as I possibly can." Ren said happily. This was great news.

"I can imagine. They said your ribs are just about healed. They took the stiches out yesterday and your wrist is good to go. May be a bit tender but still good to go." Tommy added. Even better news.

"I bet those little buggers will leave some beautiful scars." Ren joked, laughing silently. Her eyes moved to the doorway as she heard the sounds of her family returning. Her Grandmother looked the best out of all of them, but then again her parents and Louis looked like they had been run over by a train. A pang of guilt hit her as she remembered three days ago when she had just asked for Tommy and not anyone else. Hopefully none of them would be mad at her.

"She's awake again." Tommy announced, looking back at them. Her mother hurried up to her bedside, taking her other hand.

"Hey Honey, how do you feel?" she asked, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"About the same." Ren answered. She had a feeling she was going to be asked that a lot in the time to come.

"Gran is here. Do you want to see her?" Her mother asked. This surprised her; why would they ask her if she wanted to see her own Grandmother. Maybe the events of three days ago had more of an effect on them then she thought. Crap.

"Of course. I want to see everyone." Ren answered, hopefully that would mend things. Her mother nodded in reply as she moved aside to make room for her Grandmother. Her Grandmother moved the chair beside Tawny's bed up behind her as she sat down. She carefully looked Ren up and down, inspecing every bruise, cut and medical wire. She poked Ren's leg, returning her gaze back to Ren. "Well this is definatly better then her looking at me all teary eyed and saying words of sympathy." But then again her Grandmother had not yet spoke a single word. Taking a breath her Grandmother sat up straight in the chair.

"Looks like it hurt like hell." Her Grandmother said with a warm smile. Her family gasped and Ren could hear Tawny bust out laughing. Only her Grandmother would say something like that, which reminded Ren why she loved that woman so much.

"Well if I could remember anything about it then I'd have an answered for you. However judging by the way I feel now, I'd say yeah it would have." Ren replied. Her Grandmother laughed out loud loudly, her laugh echoing in the room. She took Ren's hand in hers, patting it like any Grandmother would.

"Well Ren dear, I think I better tell you this now before your pain medication knocks you out again." Her Grandmother started.

"What Gran?" Ren asked quietly.

"I have to leave tonight. I need to get back home. Seems out of all the people working at that darn Inn, none of them know how to run it while I'm gone." Her Grandmother explained.

"However if you do't want me to go, then I won't." she continued.

"No Gran, go. They need you back there. Besides, you're only going to get bored staying here." Ren answered, closing her eyes. She needed to rest a bit so that sleep wouldn't knock her out again. She could hear another person enter the room, and opening her eyes she saw that it was Nurse Lucy. Nurse Lucy shook her head in disbelief.

"Okay I didn't want to have to say this but clearly I'm going to have to. Everyone is going to have to leave. As of now I'm only going to allow one person at a time to come visit these girls. They need their rest, especially Ren. The poor girl barely has the strength to talk. If I don't lay this rule down neither of them are going to have the strength to start rehab." Nurse Lucy stated loudly. Ren saw her father open his mouth to protest but Nurse Lucy cut him off quickly.

"And don't be bothering to protest it Mr Stevens because it won't do you any good. So everyone leave now so they can rest. You can visit starting tomorrow." Nurse Lucy said, waving her hands towards the door.

"With the exception of Tommy and you my dear, since you're leaving tonight. I daresay if I kicked Tommy out of here Ren would have a fit." Nurse continued pointing at Tommy and her Grandmother.

"Thank you dear, but I need to be going. I have to pack and get ready for the airport." Her Grandmother replied as she kissed Ren on the cheek before turning and leaving the room. Nurse Lucy started shooing the rest of her family out the door and Ren smiled as she heard shouts of protest and "See you tomorrow's" come from her family. With a small sigh of relief Ren closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence of the room. She hated to think that she enjoyed her family not being there but to be totally honest, they were driving her crazy. She was glad she has been out all those times or else she would be totally insane. Opening her eyes again she looked over at Tawny who was staring absentmindedly out the window. With great effort she made an attempt to sit up on her own, using the bed rail to help her. However her attempt failed, her strength was just not there yet.

"Tommy, help me sit up." Ren said, taking a hold of his arm.

"Sure thing Ren." Tommy answered as he wrapped his free arm around her back and helped her sit up freely in her bed. Now that she was up, it wasn't hard to remain sitting up. Ren could feel her stomach grumble in hunger, which reminded her that the last time she had ate any solid food had been that lunch hour on the day of the accident. Looking over at Nurse Lucy who was just about to leave the room again she cleared her throat.

"Nurse Lucy?"

"Yes Dear?"

"Could I get somethin to eat?"

"Of couse dear I 'll go find something for you right now." Nurse Lucy said, as she continued on out the door. Ren slid herself over in bed making room between her and the second bedrail.

"Here Tommy come up and sit next to me." Ren said with a smile as she pushed the button on her bed control, bringing the head up closer to her. Leaning back against it she rested, watching Tommy as he slipped his sneakers off and climbed carefully up onto the bed beside her. He put his arm around her allowing for her to lean up against him.

"I love you." She whispered, kissing him lightly on the neck. Tommy hauled her close, kissing her back on the lips. "I love you too."


End file.
